What kind of party animal are you?

I am still trying to figure out who I party with. The libs or the righties. Actually I think I am a loner - I can't really find my groove at either party. On some issues I am throwin' the drinks back and saying 'cheers to that,' ie: gay marriage should be legal. So clearly I am diggin' the scene at the party the Democrats are throwing. On the other hand I don't think wealthy individuals or families should be taxed more just because they have more money than their neighbor and I do think that all states should privatize alcohol sales instead of monopolizing the state thus giving the government control (refer to Straight up and With a Twist posted on 2/19/10). I also believe in the free market. So now I am at a party where everyone is dressed up like an elephant and having a great time!

So I guess I can just run from party to party and hope I don't get arrested for open-container and public drunkeness.....???

All kidding aside, I can imagine there are many people, especially of my generation that feel this way. Is there any one political representative that represents all that we (any of us) personally stand for? Do you have one political figure that at least best fits your agenda? If so, please share.

I have a really good friend. We'll call him Sam. He likes cheese. I tend to have a more conservative view than him on many issues. Sam, if you disagree please utilize the comment space below. He and I had an interesting discussion on Tuesday, the day Obama signed a very important piece of paper. Our discussion happened via gchat. I simply messaged him "healthcare," his response: "finally." Our conversation continued and I sent him an article from the New York Times I found intriguing, headlined 'In Health Bill, Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality." Find the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24leonhardt.html. The rest of our conversation played out like so.....

Sam: I like that....rich people get off really easy

Me: how so?

Sam: a lot of rich people have entitlement issues just like some poor people they feel it's their RIGHT to be wealthy....also fucking people that own a business don't pay shit anymore....almost zero jobs pay a good wage...look at any wage info for the last 30 yrs, wages vs cost of living...it's fucking bullshit. You can thank American consumers...Walmart...poor trade agreements with China....put together by the VERY wealthy in their favor....to bring horribly low priced items...who gets rich at Walmart....00.2% of their overall staff. Blah anyways I have to clean now....xoxo

Now, Sam is one of my best friends of all time and to be honest, there is nothing he said that I disagree with, which says a lot because this doesn't always happen. However, I said earlier that I don't think the wealthy should be taxed just because they have more money than their neighbor, but I happened to leave out a very specific component to my statement. Seeing that Sam signed off to go clean I responded to him via email. It went like this.....

I am so thankful for a friend like you because we are soooo close, best friends, we can always count on each other but you and I often have different opinions or perspectives and we are constantly teaching each other new things. I totally get everything you were saying about the rich and how they get away with so much. Yes you are talking about these giant CEOs of multi- billion dollar corps, they do get away with a lot. I totally agree with you.

The annoying thing is....our parents are also considered "the rich" in political terms. Our parents are not swimming in millions of dollars. They are paying mortgages on their homes and helping out family/friends in financial crunches. My dad is in the "wealthy" income bracket, which means he is lumped in the same category as the CEO of Wal-Mart yet the two certainly have VERY different lifestyles. My dad is concerned about Social Security and Medicare running out by the time he and my mom hit 65. Doubt the CEO of Wal-Mart gives a shit about that. My dad is a self-made man and does not have a big corporate pension or lifetime health insurance plan to fall on. He works for himself along with a small team of accountants. Once he retires he only has Medicare and the money he saved throughout his career to count on. The brackets need to be redefined. Our parents should not be lumped in with multi-billionaires.

And Sam's response:

yah it is time for a bracket reset, they should bump it every quarter of a mill....it sucks to pay taxes....we could possibly lower taxes at some point but we have to finish up the wars...people forget we had a balanced budget under clinton. Bush made a bad mistake by cutting taxes and funding a war. You have to increase taxes when you have a war, he kept the cost of the war on another budget(shady)they are worth it but VERY costly....1millon a yr per troop....that's the cost of a war currently, so you add up everything and divide by deployed troops....it gets very expensive very quickly

so taxes suck...rich people do pay more.....wars are expensive

but its worth the money to live in america

True dat playa. See you at the party!